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SPINGARh: 
The  Sources  of  Jonson's  "Discoveries" 


Reprinted  fru:'\  Modern  Philology,  Vol.  II,  No.  4,  April,  1905 


THE  SOURCES   OF  JONSON'S  ** DISCOVERIES'' 


J.  E.  SPINGARN 


PRINTED    AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF    CHICAGO    PRESS 


Ts^6  ex     - 


Modern  Philology    '^-'^ 


Vol.  II.  ^/)r/7,    /^t^^.  No.  4. 


THE  SOURCES  OF  JONSON'S  "DISCOVERIES." 

The  final  pages  of  Ben  Jonson's  Timber,  or  Discoveries,  which 
appeared  posthumously  in  1641,  are  devoted  to  a  discussion  of 
the  nature  of  poetry  and  the  drama.  In  the  annotated  edition  of 
Professor  Schelling  these  pages  are  about  fifteen  in  number;  and 
in  this  brief  paper  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  their  sources. 

I.  Daniel  Heinsius,  the  distinguished  Dutch  scholar,  published 
his  treatise,  De  tragoedicB  constitutione,  at  Leyden  in  1611,  and 
it  was  immediately  accepted  by  critics  and  playwrights  as  a  work 
of  the  highest  authority;  Chapelain  called  it  "the  quintessence  of 
Aristotle's  Poetics,^''  and  it  was  cited  by  Corneille  and  annotated 
by  Racine.  The  whole  of  Jonson's  final  essay,  "Of  the  Magni- 
tude and  Compass  of  Any  Fable,  Epic  or  Dramatic"  (ed.  Schell- 
ing, pp.  83-87),  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  fourth  chapter  of 
Heinsius's  treatise.  Two  other  important  passages  (pp.  78-79, 
79-80)  are  also  taken  bodily  from  the  same  source.  I  have  set 
the  texts  side  by  side,  and  no  further  introduction  is  necessary. 
To  another  treatise  of  Heinsius,  Ad  Horatii  de  Plaido  et  Teren- 
tio  judicium  dissertatio,^  Jonson  was  indebted  in  his  discussion 

1  This  appeared  as  one  of  the  notes  at  the  end  of  Heinsius's  edition  of  Horace  (Leyden, 
1612,  notes,  pp.  78-99),  and  was  republished  as  a  separate  dissertation  in  his  edition  of 
Terence  in  1635.  It  has  been  reprinted  many  times,  and  is  readily  accessible  in  Zeune's 
edition  of  Terence  (London,  1820;  cf.  Vol.  I,  pp.  xxxviii  tf.,  Iviii)  or  in  that  of  Giles  (Lon- 
don, 1837;  cf.  pp.  XXV  ff.,  xxxix).  The  marginal  note  in  the  original  folio  edition  of  the 
Discoveries  (1641,  p.  129:  ^'Heins:  de  Sat :  ....  Pug:  incomm.  loSdtseq.")  evidently  refers  to 
this  obligation,  but  the  pagination,  if  correct,  is  that  of  some  edition  which  I  have  been 
unable  to  find.  Professor  Schelling,  who  seems  to  have  had  the  same  difficulty,  refers  his 
readers  to  Heinsius's  Horace,  1612,  notes,  p.  61 ;  if  he  had  turned  to  p.  78  of  that  very  edition, 
he  would  have  discovered  the  actual  source  of  Jonson's  indebtedness.  Over  nine  pages  in 
all  are  due  to  these  two  treatises  of  Heinsius. 

451]  1  [Modern  Philology,  .\pril,  1905 


2  J.  E.  Spingarn 

of  the  ludicrous  (Discoveries,  p.  81,  1.  6-p.  83,  1.  13;  also  p.  80, 
11.  26  ff.);  but  these  passages  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  cite. 

II.  The  Bohemian  Jesuit,  Jacobus  Pontanus,  published  a 
treatise  on  poetry,  Poeticarum  institutionum  libri  tres,  at  Ingol- 
stadt,  in  1594.  This  work  was  received  with  considerable  favor, 
and  was  reprinted  at  least  twice  before  the  close  of  the  century. 
Soon  after,  Joannes  Buchler,  of  Gladbach,  made  an  abstract  of 
Pontanus' s  treatise,  under  the  title  of  Reformata  poeseos  institu- 
tion ex  B.  P.  Jacohi  Pontani  libris  co7ici?inata,  and  appended  it 
to  his  poetical  dictionary,  Sacrarum  profanarumque  phrasium 
poeticarum  thesaurus.  The  combined  work  was  reprinted  many 
times,  and  at  least  five  editions  were  published  at  London  during 
the  course  of  the  seventeenth  century.  From  Buchler's  abridg- 
ment of  Pontanus  Jonson  has  borrowed  several  important  pas- 
sao-es,  but  his  debt  here  is  more  casual  and  intermittent  than  in 
the  case  of  Heinsius.  I  cite  one  example,  though  I  cannot  con- 
sider it  as  having  any  special  significance.^  I  have  used  the 
eleventh  edition  of  Buchler,  which  was  printed  at  London  in 
1632,  five  years  before  Jonson's  death. 

Jonson's  Timber,  or  Discoveries.       Heinsids's  De  tragoediae  constitu- 
(Ed.  Schelling,  Boston,  1892,  tione. 

p.  78.)  (Leydeu,  1643,  pp.  3,  4.) 

Aristotle  was  the  first  accurate  Primus  Aristoteles,  &  quod  Cri- 
critie  and  truest  judge,  nay,  the  tici  est  accurati,  vitia  notauit :  & 
greatest  philosopher  the  world  ever  quod  veri  est  philosophi,  6  virtuti- 
had ;  for  he  noted  the  vices  of  all  bus  multonim,  vnam  fecit  artem : 
knowledges  in  all  creatures,  and  simulque  vtrunque  docuit;  tum  de 
out  of  many  men's  perfections  in  a  aliis  quid  statuendum,  tum  in  nos- 
science  he  formed  still  one  art.  So  tris,  quid  sequendum  esset.  Frus- 
he  taught  us  two  offices  together,  tra  tamen,  ni  ingenium  accedat. 
how  we  ought  to  judge  rightly  of  sed  poeticum  in  primis.  Neque 
others,  and  what  we  ought  to  imi-  enim  qui  hsec  sciet,  ideo  Tragoe- 
tate  specially  in  ourselves ;  but  all  diam  conscribet :  sed  si  aptus  h 
this  in  vain  without  a  natural  wit  natm-a  ac  ingenio  accedat,  ideo 
and  a  poetical  nature  in  chief.  For  perfectam  scribet lam  pru- 
ne man,  so  soon  as  he  knows  this  dentia  civilis,  ubi  magis  requiritur? 
or  reads  it,  shall  be  able  to  write  nou  iu  seutentiis  &  gnomis  modo : 

1  For  other  passages  in  which  Jonson  appears  to  have  borrowed  from  Buchler,  cf. 
Jonson,  p.  76,  and  Buculee,  pp.  418,  427;  Jonson,  p.  77,  and  Buchlee,  p.  421. 

452 


The  Sources  of  Jonson's  "Discoveries" 


the  better;  but  as  he  is  adopted  by 
nature,  he  shall  grow  the  perfecter 
writer.  He  must  have  civil  pru- 
dence and  eloquence,  and  that 
whole,  not  taken  up  by  snatches  or 
pieces  in  sentences  or  remnants 
when  he  will  handle  business  or 
carry  counsels,  as  if  he  came  then 
out  of  the  declaimer's  gallery  or 
shadow  furnished  but  out  of  the 
body  of  the  state,  which  commonly 
is  the  school  of  men :  Virorum 
schola  respub[lica]. 


sed,  quod  felicissinie  h  te  praesti- 
tium  meminimus  non  semel,  cum 
consilia  tractantur.  non  ex  vmbra 
enim  ad  hsec  accedelxis :  sed  cum 
in  Repub.  versatus  esses,  quae 
magnatum  schola  est. 


JoNSON,  pp.  79,  80. 
I  am  not  of  that  opinion  to  con- 
clude a  poet's  liberty  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  laws  which  either 
the  grammarians  or  philosophers 
prescribe.  For  before  they  found 
out  those  laws  there  were  many 
excellent  poets  that  fulfilled  them, 
amongst  whom  none  more  perfect 
than  Sophocles,  who  lived  a  little 
before  Aristotle.  Which  of  the 
Greeklings  durst  ever  give  precepts 
to  Demosthenes?  or  to  Pericles, 
whom  the  age  sm-named  Heavenly, 
because  he  seemed  to  thunder  and 
lighten  with  his  language?  or  to 
Alcibiades,  who  had  rather  Natiu-e 
for  his  guide  than  Art  for  his  mas- 
ter? But  whatsoever  nature  at  any 
time  dictated  to  the  most  happy,  or 
long  exercise  to  the  most  laborious, 
that  the  wisdom  and  learning  of 
Aristotle  hath  brought  into  an  art 
because  he  understood  the  causes 
of  things;  and  what  other  men  did 
by  chance  or  custom  he  doth  by 
reason;  and  not  only  found  out  the 
way  not  to  eiT,  but  the  short  way 
we  should  take  not  to  err.    Many 


Heinsids,  pp.  2,  3. 
Neque  in  ea  sum  opinione,  vt 
ad  eas,  quas  grammatici  praescri- 
bunt,  aut  philosophi  angustias,  po- 
etae  libertatem  esse  revocandam 
arbitrer.  cum  praesertim  ante  obser- 
uationes  has  summi  in  Tragoedia 
extiterint  poetae.  nemo  enim  postea 
ad  majestatem  Sophocleam,  meo 
quidem  animo,  accessit.  quem  non 
paucis  annis  ante  Aristotelem,  Phi- 
losophoiTim  Regem  fato  suo  func- 
tum  satis  constat.  Verum  idem 
aliis  in  artibus  quoque  vsu  venit. 
Nam  quis  Graeculorum  vnquam  qui 
dicendi  traderent  praecepta,  ad  di- 
mnam  &  fatalem  vim  Demosthenis 
accissit,  qui  plerisque  multo  est 
antiquior?  Nee  Pericles  ante  eum, 
quem  Olympium  dixere,  quod  to- 
nare  ac  fulgm-are  videretur,  neque 
Alcibiades,  ac  alii,  quos  ante  hos 
fuisse  in  Republica  disertos  fama 
tenet,  praeceptorem  potius  quem 
sequerentiir,  quam  naturam  ducem 
habuerunt.  Sed  qua^cumque  aut 
felicibus  natiu-a  dictat,  aut  exerci- 
tatio  prolixa  dat  laboriosis,  quod 
Latini  nescio  an  satis  recte  habi- 


153 


J.  E.  Spingakn 


things  in  Euripides  hath  Aris- 
tophanes wittily  reprehended,  not 
out  of  art,  but  out  of  truth.  For 
Euripides  is  sometimes  peccant,  as 
he  is  most  times  perfect.  But 
judgment  when  it  is  greatest,  if 
reason  doth  not  accompany 'it,  is 
not  ever  absolute. 


turn  dixerint,  in  artem  redigit  vir 
sapiens  &  eruditus.  Ita  fit,  vt  & 
causas  intelligat,  &  quae  forte  alii 
eflficiunt  aut  vsu,  ex  ratione  agat : 
neque  viam  tantum  ne  aberret,  sed 
&  habeat  compendium  qua  eat. 
Multa  in  Euripide  facete  Aristo- 
phanes notauit ;  neque  ex  arte  sed 
e  vero  tamen.  Seepe  Euripides, 
alibi  quae  peccat,  alibi  plenissime  & 
accurate  praestat.  judicium  enim, 
etiam  cum  summum  est,  nisi  ratio 
accedat,  non  est  absolutum. 


JoNSON,  pp,  83-87. 

Of  the  magnitude  and  compass 
of  any  fable,  epic  or  dramatic. 


If  a  "man  would  build  a  house,  he 
would  first  appoint  a  place  to  build 
it  in,  which  he  would  define  within 
certain  bounds.  So  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  a  poem,  the  action  is  aimed 
at  by  the  poet,  which  answers  place 
in  a  buildmg,  and  that  action  hath 
his  largeness,  compass,  and  pro- 
portion. But  as  a  court  or  king's 
palace  requires  other  dimensions 
than  a  private  house,  so  the  epic 
asks  a  magnitude  from  other  poems, 
since  what  is  place  in  the  one  is 
action  in  the  other ;  the  difference 
is  in  space.  So  that  by  this  defini- 
tion we  conclude  the  fable  to  be 
the  imitation  of  one  perfect  and 
entire  action,  as  one  perfect  and 
entire  place  is  required  to  a  build- 
ing. By  perfect,  we  vmderstand 
that  to  which  nothing  is  wanting, 
as  place   to  the  building  that  is 


Heinsius,  pp.  28-38. 
Cap.  IV. 

Ambitus  Tragoedice&magnitudo. 
Actio  quce  tota  &  perfecta.  Quce 
sit  Vna  Actio,  quot  item  modis 
dicatur  Vnam.  Quo  modo  in 
Tragoedia  Vna  requiratur  Actio. 

Quemadmodum  de  aedificio  qui 
cogitat,  primo  ei  locum  designare 
solet;  quem  mox  certa  magnitudine 
ac  arabitu  definit:  ita  in  Tragoediae, 
de  qua  nunc  agimus,  constitutione, 
a  Philosopho  est  factum.  Id  in 
quo  versatur  Tragoedia,  est  actio. 
Sicut  autem  aedificio  locus,  sic  Tra- 
goediae accommodatur  actio,  magni- 
tudine, ambitu,  proportione.  Igitur 
vt  aliam  requirit  magnitudinem  vel 
regia  vel  aula,  quam  priuata  domus : 
ita  aliam  Tragoedia  requirit  actio- 
nem quam  Epos.  Nam  cum  vtrius- 
que  sit  actio,  sicut  ibi  vtriusque  est 
locus;  spatio  vtrobique  multum  dif- 
ferunt ;  hie  actio,  ibi  locus.  Jam 
vero,  turn  perfectae  tum  totius  ac- 
tionis  imitationem  esseTragoediam, 
in  definitione  audiuimus:  ita  vt  per- 
fectus  ac  totus  ad  a'dificium  requi- 
ritur  locus.    Perfectum  autem  id 


454 


The  Soueces  of  Jonson's  "Discoveries" 


raised,  and  actiou  to  the  fable  that 
is  formed.  It  is  perfect,  perhaps 
not  for  a  coiu't  or  king's  palace, 
which  requires  a  greater  ground, 
but  for  the  structure  we  would 
raise ;  so  the  space  of  the  action 
may  not  prove  large  enough  for  the 
epic  fable,  yet  be  perfect  for  the 
dramatic,  and  whole. 

What  we  understand  by  ichole} 
— Whole  we  call  that,  and  perfect, 
which  hath  a  beginning,  a  midst, 
and  an  end.  So  the  place  of  any 
building  may  be  whole  and  entire 
for  that  work,  though  too  little  for 
a  palace.  As  to  a  tragedy  or  a 
comedy,  the  action  may  be  con- 
venient and  perfect  that  would  not 
fit  an  epic  poem  in  magnitude.  So 
a  lion  is  a  perfect  creature  in  him- 
self, though  it  be  less  than  that  of 
a  buffalo  or  rhinocerote.  They  dif- 
fer but  in  specie :  either  in  the 
kind  is  absolute;  both  have  their 
parts,  and  either  the  whole.  There- 
fore, as  in  every  body,  so  in  every 
action  which  is  the  subject  of  a  just 
work,  there  is  required  a  certain 
proportionable  greatness,  neither 
too  vast  nor  too  minute.  For  that 
which  happens  to  the  eyes  when 
we  behold  a  body,  the  same  hap- 
pens to  the  memory  when  we  con- 
template an  action.  I  look  upon  a 
monstrous  giant,  as  Tityiis,  whose 
body  covered  nine  acres  of  land, 
and  mine  eye  sticks  upon  every 
part ;  the  whole  that  consists  of 
those  parts  will  never  be  taken  in 
at  one  entire  view.  So  in  a  fable, 
if  the  action  be  too  great,  we  can 
never  comprehend   the  whole   to- 


est,  cui  nihil  deest.  in  loco  quidem 
jfidificii  respectu,  quod  constioiitur: 
in  Tragoedia  autem  actionis,  quaj 
formatur.  vt  perfectus  autem,  non 
pro  regia  aut  aula,  qua3  majorem 
postulat,  sed  pro  tedificio  ipso,  aedi- 
ficii  est  locus :  ita  spatium  actionis, 
non  pro  Epico  opere  immensum, 
sed  pro  Dramate  ipso  requiratur 
perfectum.  id  autem  minus  est. 
Jam  vero  totum  est,  quod  princi- 
pium,  medium  habet,  &  finem.  Ita 
sedificii  locus  est  totus,  quamuis 
minor  sit  quam  aulw  :  vt  &  Tragce- 
diae  actionem  esse  totam  oportet, 
licet  minor  quam  Epici.  Sic  per- 
fectum animal  est  leo,quamuis  mul- 
tum  cedat  elephanto.  Totum  est 
leonis  caput,  licet  minus  sit  quam 
vii  aut  tauri.  Alteri  enim  differunt 
specie,  &  in  sua  absolutus  est  vter- 
que:  alterum  partes  habet  suas, 
ideoque  est  totum.  Sicut  ergo 
omni  in  corpore,  ita  &  in  actione 
qualibet,qua3  sit  justi  poematis  sub- 
jectum,certa  magnitudine  est  opus; 
qu9B  nee  vasta  nee  exigua  sit  nimis. 
Quippe  id  quod  euenire  oculis  solet, 
coi-pus  cum  videmus,  idem  euenit 
memorite,  cum  actionem  contem- 
plamur.  vastum  enim  corpus  qui 
videt,  dum  in  partibus  quibusque 
hgeret,  totum  illud  vnicumque  quod 
h  partibus  his  ipsis  constat,  sequi 
intuitu  non  potest.  In  poemate,  si 
magna  nimium  est  actio,  nemo  to- 
tam simul  cogitatione  complectetur. 
contra  si  exile  nimium  est  corpus, 
nulla  ex  intuitu  illius  oritur  volup- 
tas.  Nulla  enim  datur  contem- 
plauti  mora,  quia  simul  sit  intuitus 
&  euanescit.     Sicut  qui  formicam 


iThis  and  the  following  marginal  headings  of  the  original  folio  correspond  more  or 
less  to  Heinsius's  chapter  headings. 

455 


6 


J.  E.  Spingaen 


gether  in  our  imagination.  Again, 
if  it  be  too  little,  there  ariseth  no 
pleasure  out  of  the  object ;  it 
affords  the  view  no  stay ;  it  is  be- 
held, and  vanisheth  at  once.  As  if 
we  should  look  upon  an  ant  or  pis- 
mire, the  parts  fly  the  sight,  and 
the  whole  considered  is  almost 
nothing.  '  The  same  happens  in 
action,  which  is  the  object  of  mem- 
ory, as  the  body  is  of  sight.  Too 
vast  oppresseth  the  eyes,  and  ex- 
ceeds the  memory;  too  little  scarce 
admits  either. 

What  the  utmost  bound  of  a 
fable. — Now  in  every  action  it 
behoves  the  poet  to  know  which  is 
his  utmost  bound,  how  far  with  fit- 
ness and  a  necessary  proportion  he 
may  produce  and  determine  it;  that 
is,  till  either  good  fortune  change 
into  worse,  or  the  worse  into  the 
better.  For  as  a  body  without  pro- 
portion cannot  be  goodly,  no  more 
can  the  action,  either  in  comedy  or 
tragedy,  without  his  fit  bounds. 
And  every  bound,  for  the  nature  of 
the  subject,  is  esteemed  the  best 
that  is  largest,  till  it  can  increase 
no  more,  so  it  behoves  the  action 
in  tragedy  or  comedy  to  be  let 
grow  till  the  necessity  ask  a  con- 
clusion ;  whei'ein  two  things  are  to 
be  considered  :  first,  that  it  exceed 
not  the  compass  of  one  day ;  next, 
that  there  be  place  left  for  digres- 
sion and  art.  For  the  episodes  and 
digressions  in  a  fable  are  the  same 
that  household  stuff  and  other 
furniture  are  in  a  house.  And  so 
far  form  the  measure  and  extent  of 
a  fable  dramatic. 

What  [is  meanf]  by  one  and 
entire.— Now  that  it  should  be  one 


456 


videt.  nam  cum  partes  fugiant  con- 
spectum,  totum  quoque  prope  est 
nullum.  Idem  sit  in  actione.  Sicut 
enim  ibi  corpus  oculorum,  ita  hie 
memorise  objectum  est  actio,  adde 
quod  vt  magna  nimium,  conspec- 
tum,   ita  &   memoriam   excedant : 

parua  vix  admittant [Here 

Jonson  skijjs  from  the  top  of  page 
31  to  the  bottom  of  page  32.]  .... 
Primo  enim  crescere  eo  vsque  recte 
ac  produci  posse,  putat,  donee  pro 
earum  quae  aguntur  rerum  ordine, 
vel  necessario  vel  commode  muta- 
tio  infertur.  qui  supremus  hie  est 
terminus :  cum  videlicet  aut  pros- 
pera  in  aduersam,  aut  aduersa  in 
secundam  mutatm*  fortuna.  Sicut 
ergo  corpus,  sine  magnitudine  pul- 
chrum  esse  non  potest,  ita  neque 
actio  Tragoediae.  Et  vt  omnis  qui 
pro  rei  natura  est  terminus,  is  ha- 
betur  praestantissimus  qui  est  maxi- 
mus,  donee  crescere  amplius  non 
potest :  ita  ipsam  crescere  hactenus 
Tragcediae  oportet  actionem,  donee 
necessario  sit  terminanda.  In  quo 
duo  sunt  tenenda.  Primo  vt  vnius 
non  excedat  Solis  ambitum.  Se- 
cundo,  vt  digressioni  locus  relin- 
quatur  &  arti.  Quippe  quod  in 
domo  est  supellex  caeteraque  orna- 
menta,  hoc  in  Tragoedia  digressio- 
nes  sunt  &  Episodia.  Hactenus 
ergo,  quantam  esse  Fabulam  Tra- 
gcediae oporteat  &  actionem.  Viden- 
dura  &  illud ;  vtrum  vnam.  Vnum 
duobus  dicitur,  vt  plurimum,modis. 
Vel  quod  vnicum  est,  separatum, 
ac  simplex,  vt  ante.  Vel  id  quod 
compositum  ex  pluribus,  postquam 
plura  ilia  jam  coaluerunt,  vnum 
esse  ccepit.  Priori  modo,  vnam 
esse  oportere  Fabulam,  nemo  eru- 


The  Sources  of  Jonson's  "Discoveries" 


and  entire.  One  is  considerable 
two  ways ;  either  as  it  is  only 
separate,  and  by  itself,  or  as  being 
composed  of  many  parts,  it  begins 
to  be  one  as  those  parts  grow  or  are 
wrought  together.  That  it  should 
be  one  the  first  way  alone,  and  by 
itself,  no  man  that  hath  tasted 
letters  ever  would  say,  especially 
having  required  before  a  just  mag- 
nitude and  equal  proportion  of  the 
parts  in  themselves.  Neither  of 
which  can  possibly  be,  if  the  action 
be  single  and  separate,  not  com- 
posed of  parts,  which  laid  together 
in  themselves,  with  an  equal  and 
fitting  proportion,  tend  to  the  same 
end  ;  which  thing  out  of  antiquity 
itself  hath  deceived  many,  and  more 
this  day  it  doth  deceive.  So  many 
there  be  of  old  that  have  thought 
the  action  of  one  man  to  be  one, 
as  of  Hercules,  Theseus,  Achilles, 
Ulysses,  and  other  heroes ;  which 
is  both  foolish  and  false,  since  by 
one  and  the  same  person  many 
things  may  be  severally  done  which 
cannot  fitly  be  referred  or  joined  to 
the  same  end  :  which  not  only  the 
excellent  tragic  poets,  but  the  best 
masters  of  the  epic.  Homer  and 
Virgil,  saw.  For  though  the  argu- 
ment of  an  epic  poem  be  far  more 
diffused  and  poured  out  than  that 
of  tragedy,  yet  Virgil,  writing  of 
^neas,  hath  pretermitted  many 
things.  He  neither  tells  how  he 
was  born,  how  brought  up,  how  he 
fought  with  Achilles,  how  he  was 
snatched  out  of  battle  by  Venus ; 
but  that  one  thing,  how  he  came 
into  Italy,  he  prosecutes  in  twelve 
books.  The  rest  of  his  joui-ney,  his 
error  by  sea,  the  sack  of  Troy,  are 


457 


ditus  dixerit.  Duo  quippe  in  Tra- 
gica  requiri  actione  jam  monuimus. 
magnitudinem  vt  justam,  ita  & 
cequalem  inter  sese  proportionem 
partium.  quoiaun  neuti-um,  si  sit 
vna  actio  ac  simplex,  non  compo- 
sita  ex  partibus,  quae  turn  ad  eun- 
dem  tendunt  finem,  tum  propor- 
tione  apta  ac  sequali  inter  sese 
componuntur,  posse  fieri  videtur. 
quae  res  plurimus  ex  ipsa  antiqui- 
tate  imposuit,  etiamque  hodie  im- 
ponit.  Sic  non  pauci  olim  arbitrati 
sunt,  vnius  actionem  esse  vuam. 
Puta  Herculis,  Thesei,  Achillis, 
Vlyssis,  &  aliorum.  Quod  ineptum 
est  ac  falsum.  cum  ab  vno  eodem- 
que  multa  fieri  omnino  possint, 
quae  conjungi  &  referri  ad  eundem 
finem  commode  non  possunt.  Quod 
non  modo  Tragici  praestantes,  ve- 
rum  &  poetae  Epici,  Homenis  pari- 
ter  ac  Maro,  viderunt.  Quanquam 
enim  longe  amplius  diffiusiusque 
Epici  quam  Tragici  sit  argumen- 
tum,  tamen  plurima  ^ne*  Maro 
prtietermisit.  Non  enim,  quomodo 
sit  natus  ac  eductus,  cum  Achilla 
quomodo  conflixerit,  ac  praelio 
eruptus  fuerit  h  Venere.  vnum  hoc, 
quopacto  in  Italiam  peruenerit, 
libris  duodecim,  quod  nemo  nescit, 
persecutus  est.  Reliqua  quippe, 
de  itinere,  vrbis  expugnatione,  alia- 
que,  non  vt  argumeutum  operis,  sed 
vt  argumenti  Episodia  ponuntur. 
quemadmodum  &  Vlj'ssis  plurima 
Homerus  praetermisit :  nequeplura, 
quam  qua?  tendere  ad  eundem  ac 
spectare  finem  videbantur,  con- 
junxit.  Contra  ineptissime  poetae, 
quos  Philosophus  recenset.  quorum 
alter  omnes  Thesei,  alter  Herculis 
labores    actionesque    fuerat    com- 


8 


J.  E.  Spingarn 


put  not  as  the  argument  of  the 
work,  but  episodes  of  the  argu- 
ment. So  Homer  laid  by  many 
things  of  Ulysses,  and  handled  no 
more  than  he  saw  tended  to  one 
and  the  same  end.  Contrary  to 
which,  and  foolishly,  those  poets 
did,  whom  the  philosopher  taxeth, 
of  whom  one  gathered  all  the  ac- 
tions of  Theseus,  another  put  all 
the  labors  of  Hercules  in  one  work. 
So  did  he  whom  Juvenal  mentions 
in  the  beginning,  "hoarse  Codrus," 
that  recited  a  volume  compiled, 
which  he  called  his  Theseid,  not 
yet  finished,  to  the  great  trouble 
both  of  his  hearers  and  himself; 
amongst  which  there  were  many 
parts  had  no  coherence  nor  kindred 
one  with  other,  so  far  they  were 
from  being  one  action,  one  fable. 
For  as  a  house,  consisting  of  divers 
materials  becomes  one  structure 
and  one  dwelling,  so  an  action, 
composed  of  divers  parts,  may 
become  one  fable,  epic  or  dramatic. 
For  example,  in  a  tragedy,  look 
upon  Sophocles  his  Ajax:  Ajax, 
deprived  of  Achilles's  armor,  which 
he  hoped  from  the  suffrage  of  the 
Greeks,  disdains,  and,  growing  im- 
patient of  the  injury,  rageth,  and 
turns  mad.  In  that  humor  he 
doth  many  senseless  things,  and  at 
last  falls  upon  the  Grecian  flock 
and  kills  a  great  ram  for  Ulysses  : 
returning  to  his  sense,  he  grows 
ashamed  of  the  scorn,  and  kills 
himself;  and  is  by  the  chiefs  of  the 
Greeks  forbidden  burial.  These 
things  agree  and  hang  together, 
not  as  they  were  done,  but  as  seem- 
ing to  be  done,  which  made  the 
action  whole,  entire,  and  absolute. 


plexus.  Neque  aliter  intelligendus 
ille  luuenalis  locus  est  de  Codro. 
quem  idcirco  raucum  ibi  dixit, 
quod  immensum  opus,  in  quo  om- 
nes  Thesei  recenserentur  actiones, 
summa  cum  &  auditorum  molestia 
&  sua,  recitaret.  inter  quas  fuisse 
sane  plurimas  oportet,  qua3  nil  inter 
se  commune  haberent.  quare  neque 
vnam  sine  actionem  sine  fabulam 
subjectum  operis  habebat,  sed 
vnius.  Cteterum  vt  domus  non  ex 
vno  constat  sed  est  vna :  ita  non 
ex  vno  constat,  etiam  si  vna,  actio 

Tragoedise Exempli   gratia, 

Sophoclis  Aiacem  videamus :  Aiax 
armis  priuatus,  indignatur,  &  vt 
erat  contumelise  impatiens,  rabit  ac 
furit.  Ergo,  quod  pro  tali  est,  haud 
pauca  sine  mente  agit,  &  postremo 
pro  Vlysse  pecudes  insanus  mactat. 
vbi  autem  ad  se  rediit,  opprobrii 
pertsesus,  manus  sibi  infert,  ac  se- 
pulchro  prohibetur.  quae,  non  autem 
Ccetera,  quaecunque  toto  vitae  tem- 
pore ab  Ajace  gesta,  apte  inter  se 
cohaerent.  Sed  nee  quaelibet  ex 
illis  per  se  sufEcit :  omnes  vero 
congruentes,  vnam  illam  statuunt 
cujvis  sunt  partes.  Quippe  &  totam 
debere  esse  actionem  diximus,  & 
absolutam.  Totum  autem  vt  ex 
partibus  constat,  neque  sine  omni- 
bus partibus  est  totum,  ita  vt  sit 
absolutum,  non  modo  omnes  requi- 
runtur  partes,  sed  &  tales  quae  sunt 
vera?.  Totius  autem  pars  est  vera, 
quam  si  tollas,  aut  mouetur  totum, 
aut  non  amplius  est  totum.  Nam 
quod  tale  est,  vt  siue  absit,  siue 
adsit,  plane  ad  totum  nil  intersit, 
pars  totius  dici  jjroprie  non  potest. 
Qualia  siuit  Episodia,  de  quibus 
postea  agemus.  vel  ejusdem  actio- 


458 


The  Sources  of  Jonson's  "Discoveries" 


9 


The  conclusion  concerning  the 
ivhole,  and  the  parts. —  Which  are 
episodes. — For  the  whole,  as  it  con- 
sisteth  of  parts,  so  without  all  the 
parts  it  is  not  the  whole ;  and  to 
make  it  absolute  is  required  not 
only  the  parts,  but  such  parts  as 
are  true.  For  a  part  of  the  whole 
was  true,  which,  if  you  take  away, 
you  either  change  the  whole  or  it 
is  not  the  whole.  For  if  it  be  such 
a  part,  as,  being  present  or  absent, 
nothing  concerns  the  whole,  it  can- 
not be  called  a  part  of  the  whole  ; 
and  such  are  the  episodes,  of  which 
hereafter.  For  the  present  here  is 
one  example :  the  single  combat  of 
Ajax  with  Hector,  as  it  is  at  large 
described  in  Homer,  nothing  be- 
longs to  this  Ajax  of  Sophocles. 

JONSON,  p.  74. 

i'  But  how  differs  a  Poem  from 
ichat  ice  call  a  Poesy  f — A  poem, 
as  I  have  told  you,  is  the  work  of  a 
poet;  the  end  and  fruit  of  his  labor 
and  study.  Poesy  is  his  skill  or 
craft  of  making;  the  very  fiction  it- 
self, the  reason  or  form  of  the  work. 
And  these  three  voices  differ,  as  the 
thing  done,  the  doing,  and  the  doer; 
the  thing  feigned,  the  feigning,  and 
the  feigner;  so  the  poem,  the  poesy, 
and  the  poet.  Now  the  poesy  is 
the  habit  of  the  art  ...  . 


nes  longe  diuersai.  Sic,  exempli 
gratia,  singulare  Ajacis  cum  Hec- 
tore  certamen,  quod  prolixe  descri- 
bitur  Homero,  ad  Ajacem  Sophoclis 
non  spectat. 


Buchleb's  Phrasium  poeticarum 
thesaurus  (p.  414). 

Quid  distent  Poema  f&  Poesis. 
Caput  VI. 

Poema  est  opus  ipsum  Poetae,  id 
nimiiiim  quod  effectum  est,  finis  & 
fructus  operas  atque  studij,  quod 
impendit  Poeta.  Poesis  est  fictio 
ipsa,  ratione  ac  forma  Poematis, 
sive  industria  atque  opera  facieutis: 
ut  Poema,  Poesis,  Poeta,  haec  tria 
differant,  quomodo  tres  persouse 
verbi  h,  quibus  oriuntur,  Trevoirjixai, 

TTiTroirjaai,,    TreTroL-qTai.      A    prima    ex- 

istit  Poema,  ab  altera  Poesis,  h 
tertia  Poeta,  quasi  dicas  factum, 
f actio,  factor;  aut  fictum,  fictio,  fic- 
tor  ....  Poesis  interdum  ipsum 
etiam  habitum  sen  artem,  Poeticam 
videlicet  ipsam  declarat." 

1  Buchler's  original  is  to  be  found  in  Pontanus,  Institutiones  pocticcc  (InRolstadt,  1594), 
p.  20.  ScALiGEE,  Poetic,  lib.  i,  cap.  2  (ed.  1617,  p.  12),  uses  very  similar  lauguaRe.  The  dis- 
tinction was,  of  course,  a  commonplace  of  the  classical  schools,  and  may  be  found  in  Plu- 

459 


10  J.  E.  Spingarn 

The  significance  of  this  literal  translation  seems  to  me  greater 
than  the  mere  problem  of  Qnellenforschungen.  Here  is  no  ques- 
tion of  plagiarism,  for  the  Discoveries  were  never  published  during 
Jonson's  lifetime,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  were  ever 
intended  for  publication.  I  have  not  as  yet  concluded  my 
researches,  nor  can  the  literary  historian  afford  to  devote  much  of 
his  time  to  the  subsidiary  task  of  source-hunting ;  but  these  initial 
results  appear  to  suggest  that  the  Discoveries  were  merely  a  com  • 
monplace  book,  in  which  Jonson  recorded  jottings  of  any  kind 
which  might  seem  to  have  future  usefulness.  But  we  are  lucky 
indeed  to  have  even  the  commonplace  book  of  the  author  of  Vol- 
pone. 

In  the  second  place,  the  significance  of  Jonson's  interest  in 

Heinsius,  Pontanus,  and   Buchler  is  this:   the   influence  of  the 

Italian  critics  had  to  some  extent  been  superseded  by  that  of  the 

Dutch  and  German  critics  during  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 

century. 

J.  E.  Spingarn. 

Columbia  University. 

tarch,  Cornelius  Fronto,  Aphthonius,  Hermogenes,  and  others  (cf.  Walz,  Rhet.  Groeci,  1832, 
pp.  16,  60;  Vossius,  De  nat.  et  co7ist.  poet.,  cap.  iv,  §2,  and  Gummere,  in  Modern  Language 
Notes,  Vol.  XIX,  pp.  61,  152).  But  here  Jonson  certainly  seems  to  employ  the  language  of 
Buchler  or  of  Buchler's  original;  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  he  was  acquainted  with  both. 


460 


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